"What the summer has done is it has given him more time to build confidence and strength in his leg," Thibodeau said. "He looks great. He's feeling as well as he has in a long, long time. His entire body is a lot stronger. He has put a lot of work into his shooting."

Given that Thibodeau likely has his practice plan scheduled for, say, Feb. 8, he must know his preseason plan for Rose, who hasn't played since tearing his left ACL in April 2012.

"You can't be out the amount of time that he has been without going through an adjustment period when he comes back," Thibodeau said. "That will be normal. But from a physical and mental standpoint he's terrific. We feel good that we have Kirk (Hinrich) backing him up. That's a big plus.